


Coming Out of the Closet and I'm Doing Just Fine (the sunkelles remix)

by sunkelles



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Artemis Crock, Bisexual Zatanna Zatara, Coming Out, F/F, Minor Birdflash, Minor Spitfire, Snaibsel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: The first person Artemis comes out to is her mom. And then she comes out again. And again. It's not so bad.This time, from everyone else's POV
Relationships: Artemis Crock & Jade Nguyen, Artemis Crock & M'gann M'orzz, Artemis Crock & Paula Crock, Artemis Crock/Zatanna Zatara
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	Coming Out of the Closet and I'm Doing Just Fine (the sunkelles remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [titaniumsansa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Coming Out of the Closet and I'm Doing Just Fine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11287134) by [titaniumsansa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa). 



> @titaniumsansa and i did a writing exercise together today where we rewrote each other's fics from different povs. it was really fun and helped get me back in a writing mood! i hope that you enjoy the new snaibsel for me after... checks watch... a month and a half away

Paula wasn’t exactly surprised when Artemis came out to her. She had always half gravitated towards and half avoided other girls, in a way that suggested both a desire to be around them and a fear of getting too close and getting burned. 

“Artemis, I love you no matter what,” she tells her, voice firm but loving, “and I support you no matter what.” 

“Really?” her daughter asks. 

“Honestly?” Paula says, “it’s a bit of a relief. Now I know you won’t end up with a man like your father.” Artemis grimaces. 

“I’d never date someone who’s like him,” she says, venom in her voice. But there’s still something uncomfortable in the set of her jaw, something cagey. Paula isn’t sure what she said wrong, but she can tell that it’s  _ something.  _

“But?” she prompts. 

“I think I like boys too,” Artemis admits. She bites her lip. 

“Is that okay?” Paula finds herself surprised, but she can’t say that admission is any better or worse than the one she thought Artemis was making. It’s just different. 

“Oh, well,” Paula says, “that’s even better. Two for the price of one.” Artemis’s eyes crinkle as she smiles, and she lets out a laugh. 

“If liking more people means they’ll love you as much as I do,” Paula says, “all for the better.” Artemis falls to her knees at the side of her chair, and wraps her arms around her mother in a hug. Paula cards her fingers in her daughter’s hair, and kisses her on the forehead. 

If there’s anything that Artemis deserves, it’s to feel loved. 

* * *

  
  
  


M’gann knows a lot of things that she’s not technically “supposed” to know about her friends. It’s hard to figure out where the boundaries of their mindmelds should be, and what humans even  _ consider  _ secrets. She’s felt Wally’s mixed up feelings for Artemis and Robin, which he tries to direct towards M’gann. She’s felt Kaldur’s fears concerning not living up to Aquaman’s legacy, Robin’s fears  _ about _ living up to Batman’s. 

She’s felt names in Robin’s head that he never uses around them, like Dick and Bruce and Alfred. She’s felt Conner’s frustration and anger at being held in new cages all the time. 

She’s felt Artemis’s anger directed towards someone M’gann thinks is her father, and her stray attraction to people who aren’t boys. 

In Martian society, it doesn’t matter what “gender” someone likes to kiss, but in earth society it clearly does. If one of her friends doesn’t tell her something, she just assumes that it’s a secret. She pretends that she doesn’t know, and respects their right to not want it broadcasted. So she  _ definitely  _ doesn’t say anything about Artemis liking girls sometimes too. 

* * *

Batman knows how to keep a secret, better than almost anyone in the world. If he didn’t, there would be a lot fewer headlines about Bruce Wayne’s adoptions, failed relationships, and quirky television interviews and more about whether or not to prosecute him for vigilantism. 

So when Artemis tells him that she isn’t immune to Queen Bee, he simply nods. 

“Noted. Thank you for telling me, for the sake of the mission and yours,” Batman says. He would never tell someone a secret as personal as this given in such confidence. He admires Artemis for being brave enough to offer the information in the first place. 

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone. You’re the second person I’ve ever come out to and I-” 

“I won’t tell anyone. Coming out is a personal choice, one everyone should make for themselves,” Batman says. The girl looks relieved enough to melt into a puddle on the floor. 

He spends much of the day thinking about the fear that he saw in Artemis’s eyes today, and decides that he’s going to make a large, public donation to Gotham’s LGBT Youth Center as soon as he can. 

* * *

  
  


Jade knows that she sometimes behaves… callously towards her sister. They’re seldom on the same side, and Jade isn’t very good at the warm fuzzies of relationships. But contrary to popular belief, Jade  _ does _ care about her. And teasing her about boys seems like the easiest way to let her know that. 

“Any cute boys on that team of yours? Or at school?” Artemis shakes her head. 

“They’re cute, but I’m not into any of them,” Artemis says. Jade raises her eyebrow. 

“You’re not into anyone? No cute crushes for me to tease you about?” She wiggles her eyebrows like a pair of jiggly caterpillars. 

“I’ve got a crush on a girl,” Artemis blurts out. She seems shocked, and almost terrified as the words leave her mouth. It hurts her heart a little that her baby sister would think that  _ she’d  _ be homophobic. Jade Nguyen, well-known bisexual. 

“Hope she likes you back. Girls are pretty cute,” she says, winking. 

“Wait do you-”

“I like ‘em too. Looks like we have a little more in common than we thought,” Jade says, and she sees Artemis relax immediately. 

“See you later, baby sis!” Jade says, nearly hurdling off the roof to escape. 

Damn. That was a little  _ too  _ heart-felt for her liking. She’ll have to pretend to try to kill Artemis the next time, just to keep her reputation up. 

* * *

M’gann is a little surprised when Artemis asks to talk to her. M’gann can feel anxiety rolling off her in waves. 

“Is something wrong?” M’gann asks. 

“No,” Artemis says, anxiety spiking even higher as she leads M’gann off to M’gann’s bedroom. 

“M’gann, I want to tell you something,” Artemis says. They sit down beside each other on M’gann’s bright pink bedspread. 

“Yeah, go for it,” M’gann says.

“I like guys. But I also like girls,” Artemis says, eyes pointedly looking away. 

“I know,” M’gann says. 

“Wait, really?” Artemis asks. M’gann doesn’t want to let Artemis know that her very thoughts have betrayed her, so she thinks of other things that might have tipped her off. 

“You’ve checked out a few people on missions. I kind of assumed. And I kind of thought that was why you didn’t go on that mission to check on Queen Bee, not the Harjavti one, the recon one,” M’gann says. 

“Oh,” Artemis says. 

“Humans are so weird about sexuality. I love you no matter what, Artemis,” M’gann says, wrapping her arms around her friend in a bear hug. 

“I think I want to come out to the Team. Do you think it’s a good idea?” Artemis asks. M’gann nods. 

“I think it’s a great idea,” M’gann says and Artemis smiles at her. Hopefully all the rest of the members of the team will be as accepting. If not, M’gann is sure that the two of them can beat them. 

* * *

Wally likes Artemis’s coming out cake, even though he feels a bit weird about the _ coming out _ . She likes both girls and guys, it just. Feels like it’s not possible. It’s supposed to be one or the other, right? Guys or girls? Girls or guys? There’s no possibility to check both boxes. 

Wally takes another anxious bite of cake, letting his fidgeting with his plastic fork speed up to the point where it blurs in his hand. Luckily, his friends don’t even notice. 

“M’gann, you didn’t have to-” Artemis begins and M’gann waves her hand, cutting off whatever protest Artemis was going to make. 

“I bake when I’m excited. I’m really glad this went well,” M’gann says. Wally rolls his eyes, and tries to call his hand. 

“Yeah, like any of us could hate Artemis when we’ve all saved each others’ asses too many times to count,” Wally says. Whatever weird feelings he’s having about liking both girls and guys doesn’t change how he feels about Artemis. She’s his friend, and maybe his crush, and he cares about her no matter what. 

Whatever these weird feelings are, he thinks it’s a personal issue. 

“Language,” Kaldur says. Wally laughs and shoves more cake into his mouth. He glances over at Rob, who’s smiling at Artemis. Wally pulls his eyes away from that interaction and however it makes his heart feel, and sees Zatanna tuck her hair behind her ear as she sends Artemis a soft smile. 

“Thanks,” Zatanna tells her. It makes him feel even weirder than earlier, but Wally pushes it down and reaches for a second piece of cake. 

“Yeah,” Artemis says, and M’gann bats his hand away. 

“Nuh-uh. Not everyone’s had cake yet,” M’gann says. Wally pouts, and Rob laughs at him. 

He  _ laughs.  _ It makes that weird feeling in Wally’s chest come back again. 

“Denied,” Robin quips, and Artemis snorts. Wally’s heart does a swan dive. Boys and girls, huh? Maybe there’s something to that. 

* * *

  
  


Zatanna sits on her nervous feelings for weeks. Should she tell Artemis about her feelings? Should she just tell her that she’s gay? What’s the proper protocol for another coming out? 

“Hey, can we talk?” Zatanna eventually asks. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” Artemis asks. Zatanna bites her lip.

“Can we talk in private?” Zatanna asks and Artemis nods.Zatanna bets that Artemis thinks this will be about her dad. 

“I’m not sure how to say this,” Zatanna says, feeling her nervousness slip into her tone. 

“Just say what’s on your mind. Is everything okay?” Artemis asks. 

“I’m gay. I think I like girls and boys, like you do,” Zatanna says.

“Am I the first person you’ve come out to?” Artemis asks. 

“I mean unless M’gann and Conner count. Because I’m sure M’gann could see that with mind reading and all and I’ve been kind of nervous lately. M’gann picks up on that sort of thing and Conner can hear us right now, but yeah. You’re technically the first,” Zatanna says. Artemis hugs her firmly, and Zatanna feels the world melt away. It’s such a firm, steady reassurance. 

She’s always been afraid that the first reaction she’d get when she came out would be a refusal. 

“Thank you. I kind of knew for a while, but you just came out and I guess that made me realize I needed to think about it and go for it too,” Zatanna says.

“Glad I could help,” Artemis says. 

“Maybe we can talk about crushes sometime. It’s been forever since I’ve slept over at the Cave,” Artemis says. Zatanna feels her heart clench in her chest. If Artemis wants to talk crushes…. There’s no way that Zatanna  _ is  _ hers, right? They’re both gay, but maybe they’re not gay together. 

  
  


But the months pass, and she and Artemis get closer and closer, edging into couple territory without ever changing their relationship status. Zatanna decides to just take the plunge. 

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go on a date?” Zatanna asks, still a little nervous but fairly sure she won’t be shot down. 

“Hell yeah,” Artemis says. 

“Great,” Zatanna says. She takes a bite of brownie, and pretends not to be the most relieved that she’s ever been. Artemis likes her back, and really, that’s more than worth coming out for. 


End file.
